"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts

Chapter 14 - Let's play Action!

Swara helped Sanskar to walk as they came out of the cafe. She was looking at Sanskar with tears in her eyes. 'Why Sanskar? Why did you have to protect me by getting yourself hurt? Look at your condition! I can't see you like this.'

"Sanskar is here? That too with you Swara!?" Swara heard Pragya speak and looked up to see the shocked faces of her family, along with Rishi's parents and Beji.

"But Swara you were-" Maya paused and turned to Ragini, who was looking down."Raguuuu. What did you do?"

"Ehehehe... Well you see, I wanted Swara to give Sanskar a chance to explain himself." 😅

"But Ragu, weren't you the one who was blaming Sanskar for ruining Swara's name? And now this?" Tanuja asked, aghast.

"Tanuja di, Sanskar has changed. He really regrets his actions. Believe me Di. I saw it in his eyes."

"Ragini, you're still a child. You don't know people like him. They don't care for anything but money!" Sumi accused.

"How could you hide such a thing from us, Ragini?" Shekhar spoke up.

"Um....She had told me about meeting Sanskar." Pragya softly spoke out.

"You knew about it?" Maya looked at her in anger.

"M-Maya you see...K-knowledge is a tricky thing." Pragya stuttered and tried to think of an excuse.

"Maa, Baba, everyone... Sanskar has really changed. He saved me from those goons. He defended me with his life!" Swara said.

"Are you sure Swara?"

"Maya Di, he could have told them where Tanuja di was. Pawan was asking where we lived, but Sanskar didn't say a word, even when they hit him. He could have left without a care, but he didn't. He stayed back and protected me, defended me, took the hits of those men just so that he could save me. In fact, he even told me to run away. Its me who insisted to stay back. Please believe me Di." Swara pleaded to Maya.

Maya looked at Sanskar's condition. He was barely consious. He had some deep gashes on his face and body.

'He got hurt so much, yet he didn't reveal our home. Also, he looks like he would have given his life for Swara. Could it be that...that he likes Swara?' She sighed. 'Whatever. Right now, we need to get him treated.'

"Maa, Baba. Please, take him inside and treat his injuries till the ambulance arrives. Swara, help him get inside the house." Maya turned to Rishi's family. "You all should go inside as well. Everything will be fine. Don't worry."

Swara started moving forward and with her parents' help, took Sanskar towards their home. Rishi's parents and Beji followed them.

"Tanuja, you should go and explain everything to Raj uncle and Rano aunty. I don't want any misunderstandings to ruin your marriage. And call the police too."

"But Maya I can't leave you all here. Let Ragini g-"

"No Tanuja. They are your future in-laws. You should go. No buts Tanuja. Go!" Tanuja hesitated, but at last nodded and left.

Only ones left outside were Ragini, Maya and Pragya. Actually, Maya could have sent Pragya or Ragini inside instead of Tanuja. But Tanuja was the main target of Pawan and so she had sent her in to keep her hidden.

"Maya, are you angry at us for hiding about Sanskar from you? We're really sorry." Pragya apologized.

"Pragya, how could you hide this from me? What if Rishi's parents had seen Swara chatting amicably with Sanskar here? We told them that she went for work. What would they think of us?"

Ragini stepped forward. "No Maya di. Don't blame Pragya di for it. She only knew that I met Sanskar yesterday. The rest of it was my plan."

Maya looked at her shocked "You...you mean you decided to take such decisions on your own Ragini? How could you? What if Sanskar did something to her? What if he hurt Swara in some way?!"

Ragini looked down."I'm really sorry Maya di. I know I should have at least asked one of you before doing anything. But I felt that none of you would believe me."

She looked upto Maya in distress. "You didn't see him admit how sorry he was like I did in the car. He really did regret for his mistakes and....and I wanted to give him a chance. I'm sorry if I did anything wrong. Please don't be upset with me Maya di. I promise I won't do it again!"

Pragya tried to play peacemaker "Maya, Ragini is really sorry for her actions. Forgive her please. I'm sure she took her decision just on impulse. You know how childish she is. Just forgive her and think of it as just a prank of hers. Please Maya?"

Maya looked at Pragya pointedly. "No Pragya. This wasn't any immature prank and neither was this an impulsive decision. This was done by Ragini in her full understanding and knowledge. Isn't that right Ragini?"

Ragini was close to tears. She never liked it when she upset her sisters. By not telling them the truth, she knew she hurt them. "I'm really sorry Maya di. Please forgive me this time. He just...He just seemed so genuine. I thought that I could trust him."

"So you just decided that your opinion was right and you did not need to consult us? You didn't think our opinions were necessary?"

Ragini thought of saying no. Even Pragya was signaling her to say no. Because then Maya may forgive her easily.

But Ragini knew that if she says no, she would be lying to her Di.

Its because she hadn't taken the decision on impulse. She had thought about it all night and come to the conclusion that she could trust Sanskar. However, since none of her sisters would trust her, she took the decison based completely on her own wits.

'I could lie to save myself. But I don't want to lie to my sister. If I tell the truth, Maya di may be angry with me, but I trust our bond. I know she will understand soon and forgive me. As for now, I'll face the consequences, but I won't lie.'

Ragini took a deep breath and spoke "Yes, Maya di. I thought that I could trust my own opinion on this matter. I decided to trust myself and thought that it would be alright, without asking you all."

Pragya gasped 'Oh no! What have you done Ragini? You're making Maya more angry.'

Ragini closed her eyes and waited for Maya to chide her.

"You decided to take decisions on your own. You thought you are old enough to make your own judgements." Maya spoke in a cold tone. However, she slowly let out a chuckle "I thought it would take you some more years to mature and take decisions on your own."

Ragini looked up to her, shocked. Pragya was the same.

"You always came to one of us for help in taking any decision, not matter how small it was. It was good, but it also worried me. It worried me that you would never be independent. I felt that you would never be able to take you life's decisions on your own."

Maya smiled "You laid your trust on Sanskar on your own. And I think you took the right decision. If you had asked us, we would haven't let Sanskar come here and maybe... maybe Pawan would have found us and we wouldn't have the boys for help. Your decision saved us today. I guess our little Ragu finally grew up." Maya opened her arms.

At once, Ragini rushed to hug her. "Thank you for not being angry Maya Di. Thank you so much!"

Pragya sighed. 'Thank goodness. At least this matter is solved. I hope everything inside is solved as well.' she thought, looking towards the cafe.

#Inside the cafe#

Abhi sighed. He was getting bored.

Rishi, Yuvraj, Arjun and Manpreet were busy fighting the goons and Pawan, while they had told him and Laksh to stay guard at the door. Rishi feared that the goons may go out to harm the others and so he had told them not to let anyone go out.

Abhi sighed again. Laksh rolled his eyes at him. "Abhi, you should be happy that we don't have to dirty our hands. We are getting the easy job." 😉

"I don't want the easy job! I want to fight. These muscles aren't for nothing." Abhi said, while flexing his muscles.

"Whatever! You just want to fight so that you could later boast in front of Pragya." 😒

"You know me too well Lucky beta." Abhi proudly stated.

"It's also because I'm bored!"

Laksh got an idea. "Hey, how about we make bets? I bet that my brother and Manpreet will take down more goons than Rishi. I bet 500!"

"No way. Rishi and Yuvraj will win. Just watch them. I bet 2000!"

"Woah! Get ready to hand me 2000 then Abhi, because my brother is winning."

They watched as their buddies fought. Rishi was matching Pawan's each move. They both were wrestling like pro wrestlers. Arjun, Manpreet and Yuvraj were fighting with the goons. They were doing well as well.

"Look! Manpreet is hitting more men than Yuvraj. Hah!" Laksh exclaimed.

Abhi saw that he was about to lose the bet and screamed out. "To your left Mani! Hit that way!"

Manpreet turned to his left. However, his opponent was coming from the right and hit him square in the jaw.

Abhi snickered while Laksh looked at him open mouthed. "You...you cheater!" Laksh accused.

"Hehe..everything is fair in love and war Lucky." 😏

Laksh's eye twitched in irritation. 'Fine! Two can play that game.'

"Yuvraj! Behind you!" Laksh screamed out.

Yuvraj turned to find no one behind him, but felt someone push him hard to the ground from the other direction

"Nooooo! Lucky you cheap cheater, copycat!" Abhi exclaimed.

Rishi punched Pawan to the ground and turned to them "The heck! What do you think you two are doing? Whose side are you on!? We're fighting for our lives here an-" he was interrupted by a punch to the cheek from Pawan.

Laksh flinched "Ouch. That must have hurt. Just look at your warrior Abhi. He's losing. Pay up." 😏

"You're brother isn't doing good either. Look how three goons have a hold own him."

"Eh? But why is he looking at us with that murderous glare." Laksh pointed out. "Abhi, is it me, or does it really look like he wants to come hit us?"

"Lucky, I'm gonna kill you! You're playing bets at this time!" Arjun shouted.

"Lucky! Duck down!" Abhi exclaimed. Laksh did as told and crouched. At once, Abhi kicked the guy that was about to hit Laksh from behind. There were two more.

"Thanks bro." Laksh got into a position to fight. "Now the fun begins."

However, they didn't notice one goon escape silently through the door.

#Outside the cafe#

"So... are we supposed to just wait here?" Ragini asked in boredom. 😑

"What else do you want to do? Go play Chinese checkers with those men?" Pragya asked her, sarcastically.

"We could help the boys fight them. Give them a right hook, and a left hook like those girls on the t.v!"

Maya smacked her head and sighed. "Ragini. Please shut up."

Suddenly, Ragini felt someone grab her neck in a vice grip. Maya and Prgaya looked up to find one of Pawan's men holding Ragini.

"Don't come near or I'll choke her!"

Maya and Pragya felt fear grip them seeing their little sister in his clutches.

"Ragini, bite him!" Pragya screamed out in panic.

Maya looked at her irritated 'Pragya! You weren't supposed to alert him!'

Ragini looked at his hand. "Ew! No way. Its too dirty! I have to wash my mouth for an entire week to clean it of his germs."

Maya and Pragya looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Dirty? Excuse me if I'm wrong, but I believe your life is more important right now!" Pragya exclaimed. 😣

Ragini suddenly got an idea. She gripped the goon's hand tightly and started to push back as hard as she could. Not expecting this sudden move of hers, the goon collided with the wall behind him, with Ragini still in his grip.

Maya nodded towards Pragya and they both moved forward. The man was slowly straightening himself, when both of them grabbed him from both sides and gave him another push towards the wall. The force of the impact made him let go of Ragini and he fell down.

He looked up to find all three of the girls giving him a manic look.

Ragini smirked. "Now you pay!" 😈

#Inside the cafe#

Laksh was gaining the upper hand. He avoided the punch aimed at him and punched his opponent right on the face. "Oh yea! No one mess with Laksh Shrama."

However, he turned to find one of Pawan's men about to punch him. He closed his eyes, expecting the impact, but it never came. He opened his eyes to find Arjun there, holding the fist of the goon.

"You dare hurt a hair on my brother? You're dead!" Arjun started beating him.

Laksh smiled at him and looked around. They had won. All the men were on the floor groaning, while Pawan was being held by the collar by Rishi. Pawan looked about to faint, but Rishi didn't look like he would stop hitting.

Abhi went near Rishi and pulled him back."Hey! That's enough Rishi. Calm down, alright?"

"How dare he think such things about Tanuja!? How dare he try to toy with her?"

"Okay okay. You already punished him enough. Lets go now. I think I can hear the sirens. The police are here." Manpreet said, as he and the rest of the boys approached Rishi.

Once Rishi calmed down, Abhi loosened his grip on him. However, Rishi lunged forward to hit Pawan again, only to be held back by Manpreet and Yuvraj.

Soon the police entered along with the girls. "Inspector, arrest them and take them away." Abhi stated.

The officer nodded and moved forward. Laksh came to stand beside Ragini.

"Are you three alright? Nothing happened to you, right?"

"Well, one of those men tried to hurt me. But we taught him a lesson." She said pointing behind her. He looked in that direction to see a constable holding a goon who was beaten up and looked like he had seen something scary enough to last him a life time.

Laksh gulped in fear. 'Must never get into the bad side of these sisters.' 😰

The policemen arrested Pawan and his men, and took them away.

Abhi turned to address everyone.

"So...now that all this have been settled, should we talk about the party?" 😁

"Abhi, how could you talk about a party at such a time? At least let us relax a bit." 😒

"Pragya is right. Besides, I have scratches all over. How will I impress the ladies at the party if I go today? Moreover, Sanskar is a a bloody mess. Can't you cancel it today and make it tomorrow?"

"No way! You don't know how much I've waited to release my new album. No way will I wait anymore. You all are coming and that's it! Sanskar will make it there. I know my buddy." with a wink towards Pragya, Abhi left.

Arjun and Laksh sighed and spoke in unison. "How troublesome!"

Ragini pinched Laksh. "Don't even think that you will flirt with other girls at the party. You are my man, remember that!"

She turned to Pragya and grabbed her hand. "Lets go Pragya Di. We need to clean up and rest. We need to look our best at the party."

Rishi and the rest laughed at Laksh's conditions, while Laksh kept glaring at the direction Ragini left. However, he couldn't deny how he felt his heart flip when Ragini called him her man.

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To be continued...

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~ 🌹 Mona 🌹